(Thanks to Gulu Ji Fei Shuang, Want to Gently Tell Me, Pirate Flag Xi Nuo, Yiyi Myth, Qing Lian Sui Feng Piao for the encouragement of the monthly ticket)

"Why do you have to drag me along? I was already very tired today, I just wanted to have a good rest day, but I can't."

While scrubbing in, Liu Banxia complained.

"If I don't drag you along, who else should I drag? I was supposed to have a rest day as well, why drag me?" Chen Xuehai retorted.

"It's better to handle it early, isn't it? We have a big operation tomorrow, and what if your skills are needed." Liu Banxia said.

"We could have scheduled this patient for the day after tomorrow, why rush it today?" Chen Xuehai questioned again.

"Hehe, I'm actually curious too. The symptoms he's showing are too unusual," Liu Banxia replied with a laugh.

"Currently, it's just our speculation; there may not be a thymoma at all. This is the first time I've encountered such a patient. I don't know if it's his misuse of steroids causing this, or if it's due to his indulgent lifestyle."

Chen Xuehai glanced at him without saying anything and walked straight into the operating room.

"Petty, it's not even a complicated surgery, it shouldn't take long to settle." Liu Banxia grumbled.

He also felt a bit troubled, as Chen Xuehai was becoming harder to "deal" with. It used to be no problem, just fool him into doing it. But now, he has learned to bargain.

Upon entering the operating room and seeing Liang Xiaolin preparing, Liu Banxia felt a bit frustrated.

"Old Chen, you've learned bad habits. Isn't Linlin here? Why did you drag me here?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Oh, Linlin was just lucky to be here, perfect to lead the interns in their practice," Chen Xuehai answered nonchalantly, without sincerity.

What could Liu Banxia do? Since he's already here, he might as well obediently do the work today.

"Do we need to use intraoperative ultrasound later?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Of course, if there is a tumor, it will be very small, and it might not be identifiable by sight. Also, the patient's thymus may differ from normal ones," Chen Xuehai explained.

"A normal person's thymus shrinks after reaching sexual maturity. His steroid injections might have accelerated the process; the key lies in his dosage and frequency."

"I also thought about it after returning, and I lean towards him having a thymoma. It's a combination of various factors that led to this situation."

"Thymomas are special; even if very small, they can invade surrounding tissues. We'll still have to wait and see the actual situation to know what's going on."

Liu Banxia nodded, preferring to defer to Chen Xuehai in this area. It's still uncertain whether there's a thymoma; it's just that the indications are clear.

"Let's aim to finish on time if possible; it'll be less painful for him and better for our outcomes. Let's see how lucky he is, but having two incisions is better than opening the chest," said Chen Xuehai once anesthesia was successful.

This is where the surgery was a bit unique, as full exploration is needed, requiring bilateral incisions.

Others' thymomas can be located through CT or MRI, done on the side of the incision, and resolved with tidy minimally invasive techniques, like thoracoscopic surgery.

But not for him, so a comprehensive exploration is necessary.

"Sigh... poor kid. Having money isn't everything, can't just mess around," Liu Banxia said.

"You should all watch closely; Old Chen's skills are exceptional. Keep an eye on him regularly, first learning from Linlin, and later there'll be emergency reception training upfront, all mandatory courses."

"What are you looking at?" Chen Xuehai asked.

"Didn't do anything," Liu Banxia said, puzzled.

"Hurry up, you're the first assistant; don't forget your role," Chen Xuehai said.

"Sigh... my hard-working life," Liu Banxia sighed, quickly assuming his first assistant duties.

Those around found this amusing; just a moment ago, he was so energetic, now he's obediently assisting.

"You all should really learn from Dr. Liu; Linlin started with excellent basic operations, all learned from him," Chen Xuehai said.

"Just average, but for those not afraid of hardship, they should explore outside more. Anyway, Linlin has truly mastered, it's rare to find such an excellent cardiothoracic resident," Liu Banxia said.

"Did you give away your pup?" Liang Xiaolin asked.

"I don't know; those are small family matters I generally don't manage. Are you interested in raising one? Where would you have the time for that?" Liu Banxia said offhandedly.

"I just thought it would be fun and plan to visit Qiaoqiao and the puppies when I get a break," Liang Xiaolin said.

Liu Banxia felt nostalgic; it seemed the family pets were more popular than himself.

"Alright, you can place the probe now; Linlin, you check it out," Chen Xuehai instructed.

"Oh my, his thymus really has shrunk a bit," Liang Xiaolin remarked with surprise while operating the probe.

"However, now it seems like there's nothing significant. Hmm... Although the left thymus is somewhat atrophied, it shows no tumor presence to the naked eye."

Liu Banxia also carefully looked, he knows what the thymus is, but it's not something he often sees.

"Alright, next we'll look at the ultrasound, the left thymus seems fine from a visual inspection." Liang Xiaolin said after another look.

"Then leave it to me, I hope there are no issues." Wang Jianwei said.

"But I've done a few thymoma ultrasounds, and this young man's thymus is quite severely atrophied, at this age it should be getting more robust."

"If you don't take care of yourself, no one can help you." Liu Banxia said.

"That's why having money isn't always a good thing. After solving this problem, we still have to check his reproductive system, I guess it's been affected too."

"There's no need for you two to remember this talk, it's a special case. It's due to medication, it's another condition, not conflicting with this one."

Hearing this, the cardiovascular interns Liu Liang and Dong Tianyu nodded awkwardly.

Intraoperative ultrasound is very time-consuming, but under Wang Jianwei's operation, no tumors were found.

"OK, let's examine the right thymus. If nothing's there either, we'll be much more relaxed." Chen Xuehai said.

"You all saw what Linlin just did, right? Next, both of you will each examine the right thymus once. Be sure to be careful, if you spot anything with the naked eye, Dr. Liu will reward you with a treat."

"Reward, reward, you say whatever. After finishing that surgery tomorrow, I'll throw you over the wall." Liu Banxia complained.

"Wang Lei is already extremely busy, two surgeries tomorrow, the day will just fly by." Li Liwei said.

The procedure was the same as before, just in the opposite position.

It should be Liu Liang and Dong Tianyu's first time doing a thymus examination, their movements were a bit stiff.

Don't think just because they've practiced laparoscopic operations they can perform like Liang Xiaolin seamlessly every time.

When examining different positions, you have to be careful not to touch the surrounding tissues to avoid damage.

But Liu Banxia saw Dong Tianyu frowning slightly when probing the top edge of the right thymus. He sneaked a glance at Chen Xuehai, who wasn't looking too pleased either.

"Teacher Chen, the right thymus also seems normal." Dong Tianyu said after examining.

"Liu Liang, what's your opinion?" Chen Xuehai asked.

"I didn't see anything either." Liu Liang replied.

"Assistant Liu Banxia, what's your opinion." Chen Xuehai continued to ask.

"Let's take a closer look at the top during the ultrasound, I haven't studied it much, but something feels off there." Liu Banxia said.

"Alright, scan from bottom to top." Wang Jianwei said.

The final examination still needed him to do it.

However, everyone in the operating room knew that since Chen Xuehai asked again and Liu Banxia gave a hint, there might really be a problem at the top.

"Wow, either there's nothing or there's a whole nest. Let me see, one, two, three, four, although none are very big, such a cluster is rare, right?" Wang Jianwei asked after examining for a while.

"Brother Wang, take a closer look, isn't there a certain degree of infiltration at the base?" Chen Xuehai asked, frowning.

"There seems to be a little, cut out a bit more when you operate. Luckily, this isn't like the lower end with so many blood vessels, it's easier to handle here."

"After the surgery, we still need to observe closely and see what the pathology results are then." Chen Xuehai said.

"Old Chen, do you think these four little things are causing the patient's muscle weakness crisis?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It's very possible, but it's also related to the steroids he's been injecting. Don't be fooled by his seemingly strong physique, that's just an illusion, his immune system is already very low." Chen Xuehai said.

Ding! Unknown cause muscle weakness task, phase two complete

Gained 100 points of experience

Looking at the dazzling task reward in front of him, along with that "phase two", Liu Banxia was dumbfounded.

What's going on? It seems like I've always misunderstood the concept of open-ended tasks. Otherwise, why is there a phase two with the same task name?

"Don't just stand there, I've got this covered, go outside and explain to the patient's family." Seeing Liu Banxia dumbfounded, Chen Xuehai reminded him.

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm on it." Liu Banxia hurriedly responded.

This is also something an assistant should do, even if you've explained before the surgery, you still need to inform them.

Chen Xuehai shook his head helplessly, not knowing what's wrong with Liu Banxia today, he seemed distracted. Is it because I've been too hard on him? It shouldn't be.